Chan was amazing today!! You could really tell he was on. Of course, 101 is completely ridiculous, but in comparison to the other scores, was accurate. National scores are always inflated, after all. A skate like this at worlds would make him really hard to beat.

I was really impressed with Reynolds as well. What a comeback after a so so season.

The biggest shock for me was actually Liam Firus. I was insanely impressed by his flow and artistry across the ice. Really wasn't expecting that. I think that he could seriously be one to watch in a couple of years.

This may be one of your rare chances to watch Maxime-Billy Fortin, unless somebody cares to upload his performance to Youtube. Go to http://tsn.ca/figure_skating/ and click on Men's Short Program 2nd Flight and watch from around 20:20. Such natural and innate musicality on ice!

Patrick's skate: Click on Canadian Figure skating Championships: Opening Statement. Or go to the 2nd Pg for Men's Short Program, 3rd Flight, which includes Ten, Reynolds, Balde, and Firus. Quite a group. Nam is in 2nd Group.

This may be one of your rare chances to watch Maxime-Billy Fortin, unless somebody cares to upload his performance to Youtube. Go to http://tsn.ca/figure_skating/ and click on Men's Short Program 2nd Flight and watch from around 20:20. Such natural and innate musicality on ice!

Couldn't agree more. I saw this first when I watched a bit of the Canadian Challenge coverage and loved it. Then and now I would have dished out higher PCS scores in some categories.

My crystal ball was perfectly right when I said that chanadian judges took notes after Dai hit 96 with the amazing performance, and they would give Chan 100 no matter what. Ironically, his average skating, not a masterpiece at all, with non-secure landed 4t, quite dull 3A and not super fast spins, made his program look less entertaining because there was no funny zamboni trick. His PCS is just a joke. But yeah, it was Nationals. They are always inflated.
In general the field was very weak compared to Japanese Nationals and Russian, even if men's event is considered to be one of the weakest now in Russia, if not the weakest one.

My crystal ball was perfectly right when I said that chanadian judges took notes after Dai hit 96 with the amazing performance, and they would give Chan 100 no matter what. Ironically, his average skating, not a masterpiece at all, with non-secure landed 4t, quite dull 3A and not super fast spins, made his program look less entertaining because there was no funny zamboni trick. His PCS is just a joke. But yeah, it was Nationals. They are always inflated.
In general the field was very weak compared to Japanese Nationals and Russian, even if men's event is considered to be one of the weakest now in Russia, if not the weakest one.

Why was it ridiculous? Did you review the protocol and noticed anything that make you say this? And what might that be?

Simply because it's a score no one has come close to internationally. I won't take anything away from Chan. I thought he skated perfectly, and that he's completely brilliant. It's just that he broke a world record with a pretty much identical skate and it earned him a 90. I'm also not trying to imply that his marks were inflated while others weren't. All of the men scored higher yesterday than they would have internationally. I'm just saying, based on the way that the judging has been, 101 just isn't attainable in an international competition, by anyone. Heaven knows if anyone could get it, it would be Chan.

My crystal ball was perfectly right when I said that chanadian judges took notes after Dai hit 96 with the amazing performance, and they would give Chan 100 no matter what. Ironically, his average skating, not a masterpiece at all, with non-secure landed 4t, quite dull 3A and not super fast spins, made his program look less entertaining because there was no funny zamboni trick. His PCS is just a joke. But yeah, it was Nationals. They are always inflated.
In general the field was very weak compared to Japanese Nationals and Russian, even if men's event is considered to be one of the weakest now in Russia, if not the weakest one.

LOL, I find your criticism regarding Chan's skate is a joke, not his PCs. Average skating? Non-secure 4t? Dull 3A? I wonder what's the point for you to even watch his skate since it's obviously from the start, he's going to be over-marked with so so skate and you are going to hate it. Why not just go to enjoy the skaters you love, instead of constantly bashing Chan for every chance you have?

Simply because it's a score no one has come close to internationally. I won't take anything away from Chan. I thought he skated perfectly, and that he's completely brilliant. It's just that he broke a world record with a pretty much identical skate and it earned him a 90. I'm also not trying to imply that his marks were inflated while others weren't. All of the men scored higher yesterday than they would have internationally. I'm just saying, based on the way that the judging has been, 101 just isn't attainable in an international competition, by anyone. Heaven knows if anyone could get it, it would be Chan.

So because nobody may be able to reach that milestone, the 101 is ridiculous? This competition has NOTHING to do with other international skaters. The judges gave the mark what they saw in that particular performance, not thinking..."hum, Dai got 90+, Plush got whatever...should I give Chan around that as well?" etc.

"It may not have been the most solid, the jumps were a little off to me," Chan said. "Those points were deserved because I worked quite hard, it wasn't easy, it wasn't a walk in the park." (http://tsn.ca/figure_skating/story/?id=385717). If I hadn't watched his skate on TV, I would have imagined a labored performance with shaky jumps and an inflated score that rewarded his hard work instead of actual performance. Well, this is what I saw in his performance: beautiful 3A, relaxed performance not labored at all....Quite a different picture. Either he needs a speech lesson or I need a skating lesson.

"It may not have been the most solid, the jumps were a little off to me," Chan said. "Those points were deserved because I worked quite hard, it wasn't easy, it wasn't a walk in the park." (http://tsn.ca/figure_skating/story/?id=385717). If I hadn't watched his skate on TV, I would have imagined a labored performance with shaky jumps and an inflated score that rewarded his hard work instead of actual performance. Well, this is what I saw in his performance: beautiful 3A, relaxed performance not labored at all....Quite a different picture. Either he needs a speech lesson or I need a skating lesson.

I admit, I had the same reaction - although I have only seen the video from rinkside and not a 'made for tv' version. But, on a more serious note, maybe it felt like work to him, but boy did he work magic as it appeared easy and effortless.

I had the same reaction with his speech too but that's why I love his interviews right after the competitions, because he lets out his thoughts. He is his own harshest critics as he looks to improve every little bit of the program and the performance, even what are not evident to the viewers. OTOH, sometimes he sounds self-satisfied because he finds the lessons he needs and the improvements others overlook while focusing on his errors.